$50M Football Ops Facility Keeps So. Car. in Arms Race

Source: http://ift.tt/1jQkhVs --- Thursday, July 28, 2016
AthleticBusiness.com has partnered with LexisNexis to bring you this content. Copyright 2016 Independent Publishing Company All Rights Reserved Anderson Independent-Mail (South Carolina) "As we all know, quality has a price," Chuck Allen said, "and it ain't cheap." The former South Carolina captain and third-term Board of Trustees member from Anderson was discussing the Gamecocks' new Football operations building, budgeted at $50 million and set to begin construction in January. The new facility will keep USC just under the state's mandated debt limit of $200 million, but also keeps the Gamecocks abreast in the ever-changing arms race of college athletics . "The indoor practice facility was a hot item first," Allen said. "It was a mandate from the college athletic world - 'Hey, you're going to have an indoor facility or you're going to fall behind.' The Football ops building then popped into the athletic arm race equation. That's the latest trend." USC thrust itself back into the race with a visionary plan from former athletic director Eric Hyman. New buildings and high-dollar boosters helped produce the greatest period of overall athletic success in school history, and successor Ray Tanner has done a tremendous job sustaining each. Yet the process is never over. The operations building will be ready in 15-18 months, and then USC will look at what else needs to be done. That's how the game is played - in the banks more than on th ...

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